Performance Enchancement and Sports Injury in Dance

***Michelle R. Reillo, R.N., Ph.D. and Marian E. Washington, M.Ed.***

Hperbaric oxygen thereapy (HBOT) invloves the administration of oxygen to a human being with a pressurized vessel. A medical application originating in the military, used primarily by the naval forces, hyperbaric medicine has been used effectively to treat nonhealing wounds, decompression sickness, and crushing injuries. In recent decades, the application of hyperbaric medicine in te management of infectious diseases, sudden blindness, reflective sympatheic dystrophy, post-stroke, lyme disease, and a wide array of disorders has been well documented.

Over the past five years, extensive research and application in the management of traumatic brain injury, autism, and cerebal plasy has improved the quality of life of individuals worldwide. While hyperbaric oxygen therapy had been used in Europe and Russia among athletes for many years, recenlty, athletes in the United States have accessed portable hyperbaric chambers to enhance performance and improve outcomes in sports-related injuries and sports-related illnesses. Presently, over one hundred and ninety players oune hyperbaric chaners and mutiple hockey, basketball, golf, and tennis professionals also utilize hyperbaric medicine in post-training recovery and injury recovery.

Dance, including ballroom and ballet, invloves multiple muscle groups and exceptional endurance. Musculoskeletal injuries and fatigue are commomplace among dancers who perform and train ten hours daily. In light of the stress-related injuries and fatigue, a reasearch initiative was warranted to explore the efficacy of using hyperbaric oxygen therapy in sports-related injury recovery, reduction of fatigue, and enhancement of performance.

Two dancers, male and female, ages 28 and 23 years respectively, who perform as a nationally ranked couple in ballroom dance were asked to receive hyperbaric oxygen therapy via te portable hyperbaric chamber at a dance studio in Florida. The Karnofsky Fatigue Scale was used to assess the level of fatigue described by the individual athletes. The baseline score for the male dancer was 80 and for the female dancer was 80, on a scale of 0 to 100, referencing the fatigue levels described by both athletes, the Achilles and phalanges injury described by the male dance, and the headaches described by the female dancer. Both dancers received five hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments at 1.3 ATA for 60 minutes per treatment, in succession, and four treatments prior to two national competitions. The results indicated that the level of persistent fatigue, as determined ny Karnofsky Fatigue Scale, resolved completely after 60 minutes of hyperbaric oxygen at 1.3 ATA., normalizing scores to 100% for both athletes. further, performance enhancement was described byu both athletes realtive to their personal abilities to execute complex dance movements, associated with improvement in national competition ranking. Pain, as inddicated on the Pain Quality Assessment Scale (PQAS) improved significantly, decreasing from "6" to "1" in relative categories for both dancers. Subjective descriptions of improvement were als noted, and both dancers stated that their metal clarity, ablility to concentrate and to execute movements was notably improved and evident in their performances.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy enhanced performance and reduced levels of measurable fatigue for two professional dancers. Further, pain associated with chronic musculoskeletal injury and vascular headache was significantly reduced with the application of hyperbaric oxygen thereapy documented for athletes in other sport and support the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in movement and performing arts.